Catha's Seat

Thursday, 27 September 2012

The day finally arrived!! And what a day it was - 13 cyclists riding in a Peleton out of London with Karoline driving the support vehicle (with a megaphone for encouragement!) and my Dad and Julie meeting us for lunch in the middle of Essex.

The cycle team at 8am!

With only one puncture it was a successful but somewhat chilly morning - I started to worry how cold it might be when I get to the alps. We made it to the Wickham Bishops by 2pm for a nice pub lunch. Dad was late and had no phone signal so in true Keegan style we thought he had been in an accident - actually the day before he had taken his car for an MOT and the mechanic had crashed his car!!

After some tearful goodbyes the Gold Medal team set off for Harwich and made it in by 6pm - finishing off with a nice fish & chips on the Quayside.

Slightly blurry Gold Medal Team enjoying a winning drink

Thank you to everyone who came for making it such a speical day for me - it was the perfect way to launch into this adventure.

More blog posts to come shortly but now I must go out and see Wiesbaden with my host Bastian before it gets too late!

Friday, 21 September 2012

On Monday I met up with Dan, who rode to Istanbul and beyond around 7 years ago, before changing his career to being a professional saxophonist. It was a desperately needed confidence boost for me; particularly that he had travelled at a similar time of year (I was getting worried about the impending cold) and he had achieved similar daily milage to my plan.

I was excited about the number of people he had met and travelled with along the way. I hope a similar fate befalls me!Many thanks to Dan.

Rather selfishly, this trip is for me! To quench my thirst for touring, to build my confidence by travelling alone, to gain perspective by meeting people from different places and to find time to think about the bigger picture.However, I would like to use the opportunity to raise awareness about the work of Spokes East Kent Cycle Campaign. My mum was a dedicated cycle campaigner. She surveyed the optimum cycle route between Ashford and Canterbury with Sheila Webb around 20 years ago and the remaining links are now finally under construction. More detail here https://shareweb.kent.gov.uk/Documents/environment-and-planning/Countryside%20Access/AE663-Godmersham-and-Chilham.pdf

The cycle route offers a safe alternative to the exceedingly dangerous A28; connecting Ashford, Canterbury and the villages between them. This is expected to promote sustainable transport activity in the area as well as provide a beautiful path for walkers and cyclists.

Although the cycle route itself does not require financial support, as it will be built by the Council, we would like to build a seat along the route with a fantastic view over Chilham, with a plaque in memory of Mum and her work. A similar seat has been installed by Sheila on the stretch between Chartham and Canterbury as shown in the picture below.

As the seats are hand made out of solid green oak they cost around £5,000. It will provide a rest stop and great views for generations to come. If you are into cycling, walking, good views, sustainable transport or all of the above I would be exceedingly grateful for any support that you can provide to make this happen. I thought we could do this in the form of a game! Please make a pledge of whatever you can afford by commenting on this post (with your name) or sending me an email. At the same time tell me what you think the total mileage and average speed on the speedometer will be when I arrive in Istanbul. The 2 winners will receive a Turkish speciality from Istanbul! No money will be taken when you make the pledge, but when we are ready to place the order on the bench I will get back in touch and ask if you are still able fulfil your pledge. We will keep everyone updated with progress of the project and organise a trip to see it when it has been built. So everyone's donations are recognised I will also float the idea of having donor's names on a plaque as well.

Below is my planned out route with maps for each day - click the links to see the google maps. If you know anyone along the way that can put me up in exchange for stories or would like a coffee/beer and a chat let me know.

For those that are interested Maps were planned on Google and then exported to .kml files by adding the GMapToGPX at this site http://www.elsewhere.org/journal/gmaptogpx/to my bookmarks bar on firefox. Clicking the bookmark when looking at the google my maps page gives a pop up to export the .kml file.

I then imported them into www.gpsies.com track creator. This shows you the hills you will encounter!!

Exporting from gpsies gives you a .gpx route. I have imported these routes into an app called Osmand+ on my android. This satnav type app gives offline access to open street maps so I can hopefully navigate the trip without paper!

Thank you for logging onto my cycle touring blog - my first ever blog!! Scott (my bike) and I are setting off from London, through Europe ending up at the gateway to Asia; Istanbul.I am a bike enthusiast and a long trip has been my dream for years now. Cycling has been ingrained in me from a young age as my Mum was a campaigner for Sustrans and Spokes (http://www.spokeseastkent.org.uk/). I ran a small bike business at University, regularly enjoy fixing vintage bikes with my friend Hil Bob at our "Bike Club" and have completed long distance rides; London to Paris with Kit and Sam (see video below) and London along the South East Coast with Hil Bob, Yean and Phin.

The ride that inspired my love of touring, however, was with Alex (http://www.blogger.com/profile/02767436415073600810) around the north coast of France in 2005. Even though I had to strap a cushion on to my saddle to achieve the correct height it proved to be a winning trip.

Never noticed the "Stop" sign before!

Let me introduce you to Scott -

Scott - just after being valued for the insurers by Fitzrovia Cycles

Although I am not planning on giving you my personal specs, I thought some of the bike geeks may be interested in Scott's vital statistics: